


No One Will Ever Replace Us

by empireoffclouds



Category: Football RPF, real madrid
Genre: Fake/Pretend Relationship, Friends to Lovers, M/M, Real Madrid CF, aka the oldest and best cliche in the book
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-02
Updated: 2018-08-02
Packaged: 2019-06-20 11:08:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,092
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15532893
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/empireoffclouds/pseuds/empireoffclouds
Summary: “I bet you’re just vetoing all the endearments because you’re afraid you’ll like them,” Isco says, shooting Toni a playful smirk. “Wouldn’t want you to actually fall for me, would we, baby?”“As if I’d fall for someone as annoying as you,” Toni manages, hoping that Isco doesn’t notice the way his tone wavers slightly.”Or, the fake dating prompt no one really asked for.





	No One Will Ever Replace Us

**Author's Note:**

> Guess who’s back, back again. I honestly missed writing Tonisco so much and I hope ya’ll like it as much as I do. This was based on a prompt sent to my tumblr a few months ago so anon, sorry for the delay but I really hope you enjoy it!

As soon as Toni sees Isco on Friday morning, he knows that it’s going to be a very long day.

“Heeeeey, Toni, my buddy, my pal,” Isco says, as he sidles up towards him, falling into step beside him as they make their way towards the field.

“What do you want?” Toni snorts, giving Isco a flat look.

“Can’t I just talk to my best friend?” Isco asks, giving the German a very convincing puppy-dog look. Unfortunately, Toni’s learned to see through it by now.

“Just spit it out already,” Toni huffs, and Isco drops the innocent act, leaning towards him and lowering his voice.

“So... Álvaro kind of broke up with me yesterday,” Isco says with a grimace.

Toni pretends to be shocked for the sake of his friend, although he’s really anything but. By his count, Isco’s blown off Álvaro three times in the past five days to spend time with him instead, and Álvaro definitely tackled him a little harder than usual during training the other day. 

While part of him feels bad about it, he can’t help but also feel a little smug about Isco picking him over Álvaro, even if it’s in a purely platonic sense. Maybe he’ll have to buy him a smoothie or something to apologize.

Not that  _he_  should be the one apologizing, really. It’s hardly his fault Isco’s so dense when it comes to dating, and keeps accidentally pissing people off. Honestly, the entire team should know by now that despite being one of the nicest, cutest guys in the whole city of Madrid, it’s impossible for Isco to hold down a date. 

“You wanna go get coffee after training?” Toni asks, trying to sound sympathetic.

“What? No,” Isco replies, wrinkling his nose slightly. “I mean, sure, but that’s not what I need to talk to you about.”

Toni raises an eyebrow in question, urging the spaniard to continue.

“Look, so I kind of made a bet with Dani?” he says, and Toni’s already wary of where this conversation is heading. “And it kind of required me to date someone for a full week, which I didn’t think was gonna be a big deal, because I _was_ dating Álvaro, but, uh. That’s not exactly a thing anymore. And my deadline is Cristiano’s Halloween party next Friday.”

“So you’ve lost,” Toni replies, shrugging. “Just pay whatever you owe Dani and move on.”

“We didn’t bet money,” Isco groans. “He’s going to make me hold Achraf’s pet tarantula if I lose! I can’t do that!”

“Then find another date. You have exactly a week until the party, don’t you?” Toni huffs, hoping that Isco interprets the agitation in his tone as annoyance at the situation in general, instead of jealousy. Normally he tries not to let it bother him, watching Isco go through partner after partner, but he’s only human.

“I don’t want to ask someone out just to win a bet,” Isco sighs. “That would just be mean. But…” he trails off, biting his lower lip and looking at Toni with those big brown eyes of his again.

“But what?” Toni asks, not entirely sure he wants to hear the answer.

“I was thinking that you could maybe pretend to date me for a week?” Isco answers quickly. Toni opens his mouth to protest, but before he can speak, Isco barrels on. “Just until the Halloween party! Then we can tell people that we realized we were better off as friends and break up!”

“No,” Toni says flatly and increases his walking pace.

“Please don’t make me hold Achraf’s tarantula!” Isco begs, hurrying to catch up with him. “It’ll bite me or something and I’ll die and then you’ll have no one to drive to training with you every day and  – ”

“Achraf’s tarantula isn’t going to kill you,” Toni huffs. “It’s a  _pet_.”

Instead of replying properly, Isco turns up his puppy-dog eyes to maximum cute setting. Toni hates how his resolve wavers ever so slightly.

“I’ll do your laundry for a month,” Isco finally offers.

“No,” Toni says flatly. “I have a cleaning lady.”

“I’ll buy you your coffee every day,” Isco tries.

“Still no,” Toni replies.

“I’ll get you new boots?” Isco offers, his tone a little more hesitant this time. “The ones that Mateo showed us.”

Toni pauses.

“You remember that?” Toni asks, incredulous.

“Yeah,” Isco answers, shrugging. “you rarely get that excited about shoes”

Toni sighs. How could he ever say no after that?

“Don’t worry about the boots,” he says.

“I really would buy them!” Isco protests, his tone a little desperate. “Just  _please_  – ”

“I’ll pretend to date you,” Toni interrupts, watching as Isco’s eyes go wide. “But you don’t need to worry about the boots.”

“Really?” Isco blurts out, his face splitting into a grin. “Oh my god, thank you so much. You’re the best friend ever!”

“Yeah, yeah,” Toni snorts, feeling his cheeks heat slightly. “Don’t thank me yet. First we have to somehow convince people we’re actually dating.”

“Why wouldn’t people believe us?” Isco asks, frowning.

“Besides the fact that we’re best friends and you have a bet on the line?” Toni replies, arching an eyebrow at Isco. “Your plan’s kind of an obvious one.”

“Ah. Well.” the spaniard pauses for a moment. “We could say that Álvaro broke up with me because he thought I liked you more than him, which made me realize my true feelings or whatever. Y’know. Hypothetically.”

“It won’t work,” Toni replies, shaking his head. “Álvaro’s going to hear the rumor eventually and debunk it if we try that.”

For a moment, Isco’s quiet.

Then, he says, “Well. I mean. That’s kind of why Álvaro broke up with me, though. He thought I had a crush on you or something. Not that I do! That’s just what he claimed!”

There’s an uncomfortable feeling in Toni’s chest as Isco rambles on, and he can’t help but tighten his grip on his bag a little. It’s not like he hadn’t suspected that Álvaro was jealous of him – not that he has any reason to be, really. Hearing Isco confirm that his crush is utterly one-sided still hurts a little, though.

“Okay,” Toni finally manages. “So if we tell people that your breakup with Álvaro made you realize you like me instead, he’ll back it up?”

“Yeah,” Isco replies, but there’s something a little strained about his tone. Maybe this thing with Álvaro is affecting him more than he’s willing to admit. “And if I tell Sergio, it’ll get around the team in no time.”

“Alright,” Toni says, wondering how long it’ll take for Lucas to hear the rumors. He grimaces, already anticipating his teasing. “Is there anything else we’ll have to do?”

“Well, we already arrive together every day,” Isco answers, frowning thoughtfully. “Maybe we should hold hands? And we’re going to have to coordinate costumes for the Halloween party, but other than that I think we can pretty much just hang out normally.”

“Why do we have to do matching costumes?” Toni grumbles, dreading the thought of having to wear something so embarrassing. Normal costumes are bad enough, and he can’t imagine why people would want to dress up in matching strange clothing just for fun.

“It’s what couples do on Halloween,” Isco replies, his tone firm. “It’ll look weird if we don’t.”

“Fine,” Toni sighs. “But I’m not wearing anything with animal ears.”

“Aw, c’mon, I’m sure you’d make an adorable kitty-cat,” Isco teases, a grin spreading across his face. Toni just glares at him in response.

As they enter the field, Isco continues rambling about costumes, but when they get closer to the team, he suddenly reaches out and grasps Toni’s hand. Toni stiffens up for a moment, but then forces himself to relax again. Isco’s palm is warm against his own, calloused in places but still soft. As Isco twines their fingers together, Toni feels his face heat a little, and he desperately hopes that Isco doesn’t notice.

They come to a stop next to Sergio, who was warming up by himself, and Toni doesn’t miss the way his eyes widen as he notices their intertwined fingers.

The whole team is definitely going to know that they’re “dating” by the end of the day.

/////

All throughout training, Toni can feel Álvaro glaring at the back of his head. Not that he can blame him, really – he’d probably be doing the same thing if the person he just broke up with started dating someone else the very next day. Still, he really hopes that the two of them don’t get paired together for any training exercises this week. After Isco “dumps” him after the party (or is he supposed to be the one “dumping” Isco?) hopefully they can commiserate together or something.

“So,” Lucas says as he slides into a seat across from Toni and Isco in the cafeteria. “Rumor has it, you two are dating now.”

Toni glances over at Isco, wondering if they’re going to tell Lucas the truth, but Isco just laughs and says, “Yeah, this is a thing now.” He reaches over to take Toni’s hand again. “I mean, I know it’s kind of weird and out of the blue, but – ”

“Out of the blue?” Lucas snorts, giving both Toni and Isco an unimpressed look. “You two have been dancing around each other for ages. I heard Case was thinking about making a betting pool, but I guess that’s pointless now. Honestly, I was pretty sure neither of you was going to confess until one of you was blind drunk or something.”

“Dancing around – ? We were not!” Isco sputters. Toni doesn’t say anything, instead just picking at his lunch silently. Somehow, he’d thought he was being subtle about his crush on Isco, but apparently not, if a good half of the tram knows about it. Really, it must be some sort of miracle that Isco’s the only one who hasn’t picked up on it.

“Whatever helps you sleep at night, Isco Disco,” Lucas replies, giving Toni a commiserating look. Toni just tries not to look completely awkward. “Anyway, congrats. I guess I’ll leave you two to do gross couple stuff.”

“You don’t have to – ” Isco starts, but Lucas cuts him off.

“Seriously, I’ve seen you two do your weird flirting enough times by now, and that was before you were together” Lucas snorts, an amused smirk on his face. “I’m not gonna crash one of your dates, and I wanted to show this funny video to Gareth anyway.”

As the rest of the day passes, a lot of their teammates give Toni knowing looks. Part of him is worried that, at this rate, Isco’s going to figure out about his little crush, but somehow the younger man manages to remain oblivious. It’s kind of a sad reminder of how firmly Isco sees him as just a friend.

Not that there’s anything wrong with Isco only thinking of him as a friend. It’s hardly his fault that Toni happened to fall head over heels for him. As much as Toni would like for his feelings to be reciprocated, he’s a realist, first and foremost.

“Ready to head out?” Isco asks after they showered, leaning against Toni’s locker.

“Give me a moment,” he replies, shoving his uniform into his bag.

Isco opens his mouth to reply, but before he can, someone yells, “Hey, Isco! Antonio!”

When Toni looks towards the source of the racket, he grimaces. Dani’s making his way towards them, and despite Isco’s claims to the contrary, it definitely looks like he’s coming over to voice his suspicions about their relationship.

Sure enough, when he comes to a stop next to them, the defender says, “So, I heard you two are dating now.”

“Yep,” Isco replies, popping the ‘p’ as he says it.

“It’s kind of convenient that you two just  _happened_  to start dating right now,” Dani says to Isco, giving him a significant look. “You know, considering you have just barely enough time to qualify for our bet.”

“Oh, shut it, Dani,” someone snorts, and Toni glances over to find Álvaro, of all people, glaring at Dani. “I broke up with Isco  _because_  it was clear he wanted to date Toni instead.”

Isco’s face flushes a little pink at that comment, and he falters for a moment, but then he says, “Yeah. That was, uh – Álvaro managed to talk some sense into me. Toni and I are totally dating. We’re, y’know, boyfriends – ”

As Isco fumbles with his words, Toni has to suppress a grimace. If he keeps up this rambling, Dani is definitely going to see through his obvious lies.

So, Toni stands up straight, leans forward, and kisses him.

It’s a very brief kiss, chaste. It’s more of a brush of lips than anything, but it’s a kiss nonetheless, and it serves both the purpose of shutting Isco up and making Dani stare at the two of them with wide, surprised eyes.

“We’re dating,” Toni announces flatly, giving Dani a mild glare. Then, he grabs Isco’s hand and drags him out of the locker room, leaving Dani to gape like a fish.

It’s not until they’re on the parking lot and there’s no risk of their teammates eavesdropping that Toni finally slows down and releases his grip on Isco’s hand. When he meets Isco’s eyes again, he’s surprised to find that he looks a little dazed, staring at Toni like he’s never seen him before.

“Sorry,” Toni mutters, breaking eye contact. “It was the easiest way to convince Dani that we weren’t lying.”

“Yeah,” Isco says, still sounding a little dazed. “Good, uh – good thinking.”

“Don’t make this weird,” Toni says, giving Isco a flat look.

“I’m not making it weird!” Isco sputters, his cheeks going a little pink. “Just, y’know, next time maybe you should warn me? So I can prepare myself?”

“Fine,” Toni snorts, rolling his eyes. He tries to ignore the small stab of hurt in his chest at the realisation that Isco needs to brace himself to  _endure_  a kiss from him. “Let’s just go to the coffee shop so you can buy me my latte and forget about it.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Isco replies, hurrying to keep up with Toni as he heads in the direction of his car. “Forgetting it right now.”

Toni clenches his jaw and wonders how he’s going to get through a whole week of this.

/////

On Monday at training, no one has any doubts about Toni and Isco’s relationship status. Dani still makes sure to remind Isco that it has to last at least until the end of the week, but no one seems to have any doubts about them managing that, which really just makes Toni feel worse about the whole situation.

Álvaro appears to have moved past his anger and now just seems kind of sad instead, a little wistful when he looks at Isco. Honestly, Toni kind of preferred it when he was angry at him, because then he could at least feel indignant about being falsely blamed for something out of his control.

Still, what’s done is done, he supposes. He just has to make it through the next week, and then hopefully everything will go back to normal.

(Although he can’t help but think that he’ll miss holding hands with Isco. It seems that today, Isco’s been twining their fingers together at practically every opportunity, and while part of Toni wants to tell him that he doesn’t need to be  _that_  paranoid about people questioning their relationship, he likes it too much to tell Isco to stop. Sometimes Isco absentmindedly strokes little circles onto Toni’s pale skin with his thumb, and the ghost of that feeling lingers with him for hours afterwards.)

“Hey,” Isco says as he falls into step with Toni when they leave the Bernabéu together that afternoon. “We should go costume shopping now.”

“Do we really have to?” Toni sighs. He hates shopping for clothes as it is, and costumes are a special sort of torture. “They cost too much for something you only wear once a year.”

“Oh, c’mon,” Isco whines, and there are the puppy dog eyes again. “Costumes are fun! And it’s a Halloween party, I’m pretty sure costumes are required.”

“Fine, I’ll go as a disgruntled German,” Toni says flatly.

“In which case, we’ll need to buy you black eyeliner, studded bracelets, and stylishly distressed clothing,” Isco replies, a smirk spreading across his lips.

“A  _normal_  disgruntled German,” Toni huffs.

“Nice try,” Isco says, wrapping his arm around Toni’s and steering him in the direction of the costume shop near the train station. “You just have to wear it once. You’ll live.”

Toni grumbles a German curse unsavory under his breath, but doesn’t try to pull away.

Despite how often Toni’s walked past the costume shop on his way to their usual coffee shop, he’s never actually been inside. Just seeing the outside has always been enough to make sure he steers clear, with its windows filled with as many frills and accessories as possible. At least now that it’s near Halloween, most of the ribbons have been replaced by spider-webs and fake blood.

In fact, when they enter the store, the first thing that confronts them is a large display of gory make-up and plastic weapons. Toni picks up a bottle of fake blood, inspecting the label curiously, and says, “Maybe I should just make a fake head wound and go as your former boyfriend.”

“Hey!” Isco sputters. “I might be a bit of a serial dater, but I’m not a serial  _killer_.”

“It would be a simple couple’s costume idea,” Toni replies, arching an eyebrow at Isco. “Cheap, too.”

“You’re fucking morbid, Antonio,” Isco huffs, and plucks the bottle of fake blood from his hand, putting it back down on the display table. “Let’s do something that  _doesn’t_  involve gross injuries.”

“That eliminates half our costume options,” Toni snorts, but follows Isco over to the side of the store that’s less bloody and more… glittery.

“Look at this!” Isco says, his face lighting up a little as he makes his way over to one of the shelves. “Angel and devil! That’s a classic couple’s costume option.”

“Yeah, perfect,” Toni says dryly, picking up a headband with devil horns on it and sticking it on Isco’s head.

“Why am I the devil?” Isco complains. “Aren’t angels usually small and cute and devils tall and imposing, anyway?”

“Appearances can be deceiving,” Toni replies with a smirk, and Isco’s lips turn down into an expression dangerously close to a pout.

“Fine, fine,” Isco huffs, tugging the devil horns out of his hair and putting them back on the shelf. “Let’s keep looking.”

As they make their way a little further into the shop, Toni lets his eyes wander over the various costumes, but nothing really stands out to him. Vampires and zombies require too much make-up, and he doesn’t understand why someone would want to dress up a police officer or firefighter. Those are just normal professions, aren’t they?

“We could do Dr. Frankenstein and his monster,” Isco muses, draping a white lab-coat over his shoulders. “You’ve certainly got the height for it.”

“Thanks,” Toni says flatly.

“I don’t really want to wear a coat, though,” Isco continues, inspecting the monster costumes. “And I don’t know enough about make-up to be able to do something like that…”

He puts the lab coat back on the shelf and picks up a pair of plastic handcuffs instead.

“Hero and villain?” he suggests, holding the handcuffs out to Toni.

“Kinky,” he replies, pleased when Isco’s cheeks flush a little red and he puts the handcuffs back quickly.

Toni zones out a little as Isco continues down through the aisles, rambling on about the benefits and drawbacks of various costumes. As time drags on, he considers just suggesting making ghost costumes out of bedsheets, but just as he’s about to say as much, Isco exclaims, “Toni! Try this on!”

He blinks as he finds something black and fluffy thrust into his hands, frowning as he tries to figure out what it is.

“You can be a cat and I’ll be your mouse!” Isco says with a grin, looking way more excited than a twenty five year old should be.

“I vetoed animal ears yesterday, remember?” Toni huffs, inspecting the costume skeptically.

“Awww, c’mon,” Isco whines, and there are the fucking eyes again. “It’s not like I gave you a sexy cat costume or anything.”

At that comment, Toni feels his cheeks heat a little, and he snorts, “Fine, I’ll try it on if you try the sexy cat one.”

Isco wrinkles his nose in distaste, and for a moment Toni thinks he’s won, but then Isco says, “Alright, but I’m not buying it.”

Which is how Toni finds himself struggling to fit into what feels like a black striped spandex suit. He’s pretty sure his life has hit a new low. Still, he supposes it could be worse. The fluffy gloves are kind of annoying and he’s pretty sure the costume is a size too small – if how tight it is is any indication – but at least he’s not wearing a leotard.

Finally, he gives up on trying to zip the back of the costume all the way up, instead letting the zipper hang half-way undone, and pokes his head out of the dressing room to see if Isco has finished changing yet.

However, as his eyes land on Isco, he freezes.

It occurs to him that Isco has very nice legs. Despite having had a crush on him for so long, it’s not really something he’s thought about too much, but now that Isco’s legs are completely bare, Toni finds himself staring.

“I think I got a size too small,” Isco says, grimacing as he tugs on the bottom of the leotard, drawing Toni’s attention to the visible bulge between his thighs.

“You should change back,” Toni blurts out, tearing his eyes away from Isco’s legs and trying to fight a blush.

“I look that bad?” Isco asks, glancing up from the costume to look over at Toni.

The problem is actually that he looks too  _good_ , but Toni’s not about to actually admit that.

“You look good, though,” Isco continues, giving Toni a slow once over that makes his skin prickle. He feels strangely exposed in this costume, and with how tight it is, it doesn’t exactly leave much up to the imagination.

“I feel like a fucking furry,” Toni grumbles, crossing his arms over his chest defensively. “Also, I’m pretty sure you gave me a size too small. This is going to start cutting off my circulation soon.”

“Alright, alright,” Isco huffs. “I guess we can just go with the angel and devil thing. I’ll even let you be the angel.”

“No,” Toni mumbles, tearing his eyes away from the curve of Isco’s calves. “The angel costume would fit you better.”

Before Isco can reply, he ducks back into the changing room and slumps against the wall, burying his burning face in his hands. He certainly feels sinful enough to be a devil, after seeing Isco in that leotard.

Halloween is officially his least favorite holiday.

/////

The thing is, nothing really changes much with him pretending to date Isco. Sure, they hold hands now, but arriving to training together is nothing new, nor is pairing up to do exercises and hanging out after they’re done. 

But apparently Isco isn’t satisfied with that.

“Babe? Baby? Sugarplum?” Isco asks, half-draped over Toni as they wander through the mall that afternoon. “Love-bunny? Wait, no, that sounds weirdly close to ‘sex-kitten’ – ”

 “Isco,” Toni says through gritted teeth. “Shut up.”

“Oh, c’mon,” Isco whines. “Couples use nicknames and endearments, right?”

“Only the really sappy ones still in the honeymoon stage,” Toni snorts.

“Are you saying we’re not in the honeymoon stage anymore?” Isco huffs, giving Toni an overdramatic, hurt look. “It’s been like half a week.”

“Maybe this is why all your relationships have fizzled out so quickly,” Toni replies, and Isco frowns at him. It’s an annoyingly cute expression on him.

“You know what, I bet you’re just vetoing all the endearments because you’re afraid you’ll  _like_  them,” Isco says, shooting Toni a playful smirk. “Wouldn’t want you to actually fall for me, would we, baby?”

“As if I’d fall for someone as annoying as you,” Toni manages, hoping that Isco doesn’t notice the way his tone wavers slightly. Truthfully, he’s imagined Isco calling him “baby” exactly once, in a certain very explicit fantasy that made it so he was unable to look Isco in the eye for a whole three days afterwards.

“Ahhh, you’re so mean to me,” Isco whines. “Can’t you at least  _pretend_  you’re head over heels for me?”

“It’s just unrealistic,” Toni snorts, trying to ignore the rapid thud of his heart in his chest. Thankfully, they arrive at the store Isco wanted to visit to get new speakers only a moment later, effectively ending their conversation about endearments and nicknames. As they trade insults while inspecting the different electronics, Toni can almost pretend that everything’s normal.

However, when it’s just about time for them to head home, Isco says, “Hey, we should take some photos!”

“What? Why?” Toni asks, but Isco’s already grabbed his hand and is starting to drag him over to the conveniently placed photo-booth.

“It’s something that couples do,” Isco answers, not that it’s really much of an answer, in Toni’s opinion.

“You know, no one’s stalking us to make sure that we’re actually dating,” Toni snorts, digging his heels in a little as Isco pushes aside the curtain of the booth. “You can drop the act.”

“I need a photo of us, though,” Isco protests, “For my wallet, you know? Don’t people normally keep a photo of their significant other with them?”

“We’ve been pretending to date for  _four days_ ,” Toni replies, his lips turning down into a scowl. “We’re planning to break up on Friday. There’s no point in wasting money on photos when you’re only going to carry them around for another three days.”

“Aw, c’mon, I can still keep them as, like, friend photos or whatever,” Isco huffs. “I’m not just gonna throw them away when we break up. Stop being such a stick in the mud.”

“Fine,” Toni sighs, letting Isco drag him into the booth.

It’s actually roomier than Toni expected, but instead of letting him have his own space, Isco wraps an arm around his waist and pulls him in close. He tries to ignore the warmth of Isco’s body pressed up against his, but Isco’s always been a difficult person to ignore, particularly for Toni.

“You gotta smile for the camera,” Isco says, poking at Toni’s cheek.

“No I don’t,” Toni huffs.

“People are gonna think that I kidnapped you or something when they see these photos,” Isco complains. “Try to look a little less like I’m holding a gun to your back or something.”

Toni rolls his eyes, but manages to force a small, awkward smile.

“There you go,” Isco says, grinning at Toni, whose face heats a little at receiving the full force of Isco’s smile.

They take a few more photos, and Toni mainly just lets Isco position him as he pleases, trying not to think too much about the feeling of Isco’s hands on his waist, shoulders, chest. Isco’s always been a rather tactile person, but it seems like he’s taken this opportunity to touch Toni like he’d touch someone he’s actually dating – that is, all over and all the time.

“Hey,” Isco says, bringing Toni back down to earth. “For the last photo we should, uh – you know.”

“No, I don’t know,” Toni replies dryly, giving Isco an unimpressed look.

“We should kiss,” Isco blurts out, catching Toni off guard. “It’s, like, practically required for couples taking photos together, right? It doesn’t have to be, you know, super involved or – ”

“Okay,” Toni says simply.

“Okay?” Isco replies, blinking at Toni owlishly.

“I just want to get this over with,” Toni snorts, giving Isco a flat look. “Kiss me so I can go home and actually get my beauty sleep.”

“Right,” Isco says.

Then, he takes a deep breath and leans in to press his lips against Toni’s.

Part of Toni wants to make the most of this opportunity – after all, it’s unlikely that he’ll ever get another chance to kiss Isco after this week – but he’s also worried that if he kisses Isco too eagerly, he will figure out about his crush. So instead, he lets his eyes slide shut and just follows the spaniard’s lead.

Isco’s tentative at first, only pressing his mouth lightly against Toni’s. However, after a couple of moments, he gets a little bolder, bringing a hand up to cup Toni’s jaw and re-angle his head slightly so that their mouths fit together better.

In actuality, the kiss probably only lasts a scant couple of seconds, but when Isco finally pulls away, it feels like much longer to Toni. He blinks his eyes open and runs his tongue over his bottom lip, an unconscious, automatic gesture.

“I’m going to just – ” Isco says, his voice sounding a little strangled and his cheeks stained pink. “ – mess around with the filters and stuff.”

With that, he turns away from Toni, busying himself with editing the photos. Toni’s content to let Isco decorate them as he pleases, still feeling a little overwhelmed by the kiss they’d just shared.

“Hey, Toni!” Isco says, breaking him from his thoughts. “Like it?”

Toni scowls as he looks over to find that Isco’s drawn cat ears on one of the photos of him.

“What is it with you and cat ears?” Toni huffs, stealing the stylus from Isco in order to draw a moustache on him in retaliation. “Do you have some sort of fetish or something?”

“Oh yeah, definitely,” Isco says with a smirk. “It was so hard to control myself when I saw you in those fuzzy cat ears yesterday.”

“You’re an ass,” Toni grumbles, punching Isco lightly in the shoulder. Isco just laughs in response, and with that, whatever tension had remained in the atmosphere after their kiss vanishes.

When they print out the photos and split them up, Isco puts the one of them kissing in his wallet and Toni tries not to read too far into it.

/////

When Friday finally rolls around, Toni thinks he should feel relieved. All he has to do is survive the Halloween party and then things can finally go back to normal.

(Of course, “normal” means no more hand holding, or standing too close together, or Isco coming up with more ridiculous pet names for him to shoot down.)

Toni sighs and digs his costume out of his closet, scowling at it for a moment before setting it down on his bed. He changes quickly, glad that he’d managed to convince Isco to let him get one of the simpler devil costume designs. Really, without the horns, tail, and pitchfork, the outfit’s just a normal crimson colored button down and black slacks.

He inspects himself in the mirror, reaching up to adjust his horns slightly, grimacing as they get caught in his messy hair. It’s definitely going to be a pain to get them back out later tonight.

He hears the doorbell ring a moment later.

“Coming!” he yells, straightening out his shirt a little before grabbing his pitchfork and heading for the door.

When Toni opens the door, Isco’s waiting in the entryway. His costume is fairly similar to Toni’s, only with a lighter color scheme and fluffy wings and a halo instead of horns and a tail. The button down he’s wearing is a garishly shiny golden color, though, and Toni wrinkles his nose slightly at it, suddenly glad that he’d agreed to take the devil costume instead.

They get into the car after the normal greetings, sticking to safe topics the rest of the way to the party, but when they’re about a block from Cristiano’s house, Isco reaches over to take Toni’s hand. Toni tries not to think about how this is probably the last time he’ll get to do this, and decides he might as well savour the feeling of Isco’s warm palm against his while it lasts.

“Nice costumes,” someone says as they enter the house, and Toni turns to find Marco grinning at them, decked out in what looks like a zombie costume. “Although I personally think they would work better the other way around.”

“That’s what I said,” Toni replies, smirking.

“Hey!” Isco complains, his expression dangerously close to a pout as he looks between the two taller men. “Why are you two so mean to me?”

“It’s not our fault you make it so easy,” Marco snorts. Toni grins and raises his hand for Marco to high-five.

“I’m disowning you two as my best friend and boyfriend,” Isco huffs.

“You’ll lose your bet if you do that,” Toni replies, quirking an eyebrow at Isco.

“I said disown, not dump,” Isco replies, and for a moment he hesitates, but then he leans in to press a light kiss to Toni’s cheek. Toni blinks in surprise, caught off guard.

“So, does this technically make you a fallen angel?” Marco asks, looking amused. “Considering you’re dating a devil and all.”

“Oh yeah,” Isco says with a smirk. “The moment I first set eyes on Toni, I became a sinner.”

“Okay, way too much information,” Marco replies, wrinkling his nose, and Isco laughs. Toni just rolls his eyes.

“I’m going to get some food,” he announces, wriggling his hand out of Isco’s grip. He looks over at him and asks, “You want anything?”

“You know me. I want  _everything_ ,” Isco answers, and Toni rolls his eyes.

Thankfully no one tries to engage him in further conversation other than casual greetings as he makes his way over to a massive table set up on the other side of the room, overflowing with various Halloween themed treats. He only bothers to grab a single plate – Isco always ends up stealing from him anyway, so there’s no point in spreading things out over two.

Gummy candies are the first things he picks up. He pops one into his mouth, chewing on it as he sorts through the chocolates next. He’s never really cared that much for chocolate in general, but he grabs a few things that he knows Isco likes. After a moment of hesitation, he grabs a couple of cupcakes, too, vanilla ones decorated to look like ghosts.

“Toni,” someone says, and he looks over to find that Álvaro’s come over to him. He looks like he’s dressed as some sort of assassin or something, black uniform splattered with fake bright red blood, but with the way he’s wringing his hands, he looks more awkward than murderous.

“Álvaro,” Toni replies, unsure what else to say.

“I wanted to apologize,” he says, catching Toni off guard. “I’ve been kind of a jerk to you recently. It’s not your fault Isco didn’t like me as much as I wanted him to, and I shouldn’t have taken it out on you.”

“I’m pretty sure all of the bruises you gave me during training last Thursday have faded by now,” Toni snorts. “So apology accepted, I guess.”

Álvaro winces, looking a little sheepish.

“Hey, it’s not your fault Isco’s so dense about relationships, either,” Toni adds, and he can’t help but feel a little bit of pity for Álvaro. Their situations are fairly similar, after all. “I’m pretty sure he’s going to break up with me soon anyway.”

“What?” Álvaro asks, clearly surprised. “Why would he do that?”

“I don’t know,” Toni lies, shrugging. “I just have a gut feeling.”

“Well, then you should stop listening to your gut,” Álvaro snorts, shaking his head slightly. “He’s head over fucking heels for you. Did you know he cancelled a date on me because he got a text from you saying you needed help with some gluten-free recipe?”

Toni pauses, because he remembered that night perfectly. Cristiano had been blabbering on and on about this healthy banana bread recipe he had tried, and he had sung such high praises that Toni couldn’t help but try it out himself, despite never having baked once in his life.

“Uh,” Toni replies, and now it’s his turn to look surprised. “Sorry?”

“It’s not  _you_  I’d like an apology from,” Álvaro huffs. “Really, you’re just making me feel more pathetic right now.”

Toni doesn’t really know what to say to that.

“Anyway, I don’t think you need to worry about him not being into you enough,” Álvaro continues, picking at a spot of fake blood on his nail. “Congrats, I guess.”

“Thanks,” Toni says awkwardly.

“Good talk,” Álvaro says, nodding stiffly before turning on his heel and leaving Toni to contemplate the fact that Isco once cancelled a date to help him with  _gluten-free banana bread_. He hadn’t even touched an oven since.

Eventually, Toni gives up on trying to puzzle out Isco’s actions and goes to find Isco and Marco again. They’ve moved into the living room now and are chatting with Sergio and Karim, Isco gesticulating dramatically as he tells some story that’s probably been exaggerated beyond recognition. Toni sidles up next to him, dodging a flailing arm as he settles into the small circle.

“Hey,” Toni interrupts, nudging Isco with his elbow and presenting him with the plate of sweets. “Hold this so you don’t accidentally hit someone in the face with your flailing.”

“Sorry,” Isco replies, smiling at Toni sheepishly. Toni lets out a little snort and picks what looks like a gummy bat up off the plate, popping it into his mouth. “Hey, what flavor is this?”

Toni looks over to find Isco holding up a brownie coated in some sort of orange colored flavoring. He shrugs.

“I didn’t check,” he replies, popping another gummy bat into his mouth.

“I think it’s pumpkin,” Marco replies. He reaches over to grab a brownie, biting off a bit and chewing thoughtfully. “Yeah, it’s pumpkin.”

“Huh,” Isco says, taking a tentative bite of his own. He doesn’t immediately spit it back out again, so Toni assumes it must not taste that bad. After he swallows, though, he extends the half-eaten brownie over to Toni and says, “Toni, you try it.”

“You just bit off part of it,” he protests, wrinkling his nose.

“What, so you’ll kiss me, but you won’t eat something that I’ve eaten part of?” Isco huffs, and Toni rolls his eyes, but leans in to take a bite out of the offered treat. He takes a moment to process the flavor as he chews. It’s surprisingly good for something that shade of orange, but it’s hardly his new favorite food.

The small talk starts up again, but Toni doesn’t really bother to participate much, instead content to just listen while popping gummy candies into his mouth. Chatting has never been his strong suit.

At some point, he feels Isco leaning up against him. Toni glances over at him for a second, caught off guard, but then wraps an arm around his waist before focusing on the conversation at hand. All that’s left on the plate of sweets are the two cupcakes now, and Toni resolves to go get some more in just a little bit. He only gets about one cheat day a month after all.

He picks up one of the cupcakes and takes a large bite out of it – probably too large of a bite, because he’s pretty sure he just smeared frosting all over his mouth. Before he can reach a hand up to scrub it off, though, Isco says, “You’re a mess,” and reaches over to swipe his thumb over Toni’s upper lip, wiping up the frosting. Toni finds himself staring as Isco proceeds to lick the frosting off his thumb.

“Aaaalright, I think I’ve seen enough of this foreplay,” Marco announces, and Toni feels his cheeks flush. “I’ll catch you guys later. Actually, make that tomorrow.”

Sergio and Karim snicker and Toni glares at them, but he thinks it’s probably ruined by the light pink dusting his cheeks. The two of them follow Marco into one of the other rooms, though, leaving Isco and Toni to themselves.

“Sorry about that,” Isco says, a little sheepishly. “I just didn’t want to waste any frosting and we’re supposed to be acting like a couple anyway, so. But hey, at least it’s almost over, right? As soon as this party’s done, we can – ”

“Isco,” Toni interrupts, making Isco frown at him. “Is it true that you cancelled at date with Álvaro to help me bake that stupid banana bread?”

Isco stares at him for a moment, wide-eyed, and then sputters, “Where did you hear that?”

“From Álvaro,” Toni asks, watching carefully as Isco fidgets awkwardly.

“Well, I mean, you have such abysmal cooking skills that I figured it was probably important to keep you from burning your house down, and – ” Isco rambles, unable to meet Toni’s gaze.

“Isco,” Toni interrupts again, but his voice is soft. “Tell me the truth.”

For a moment, Isco’s quiet, but then he swallows thickly and says, “I guess I’m just pathetic enough that I’d rather spend the evening baking with a guy who only sees me as a friend than on a date with one who actually likes me.”

Toni is quiet for a second, before he starts shaking his head in disbelief.

“You’re an idiot,” he snorts, and Isco flinches, but before he can run away, Toni leans forward and captures his mouth in a kiss.

It’s just a brief brush of lips, and Toni pulls away again before Isco can actually start kissing back. Isco blinks at him for a moment, looking dazed, and Toni has to bite his lip to keep from laughing at his startled expression.

“If you break up with me after this party, I’m going to be pissed,” Toni states.

“You will be?” Isco blurts out, still staring.

“Generally people get pissed when they start dating the person they like and then get dumped a week later,” Toni snorts, but there’s a small smile tugging at the corners of his lips.

“I better not break up with you then,” Isco says slowly, looking at Toni like he still half-expects this to be a prank of some sort.

“Good,” Toni says, and then leans in for another kiss.

**Author's Note:**

> As always guys if you liked it please leave kudos or maybe a comment because they literally fuel me and make me stupidly happy. Also don’t forget to check out my tumblr (mexisco) and if you have a request please send it my way.


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